Somali pirates demand $25m for Saudi oil tanker

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil super-tanker demanded a 25 million dollar ransom Thursday amid calls for tougher action to end threats to one of the world's key maritime routes. As global frustration built and a major shipping company ordered some of its vessels to avoid the Gulf of Aden, the pirates set a 10-day deadline for the ransom payment. "We are demanding 25 million dollars from the Saudi owners of the tanker. We do not want long-term discussions to resolve the matter," a pirate said from the ship. "The Saudis have 10 days to comply, otherwise we will take action that could be disastrous," Said told AFP from the ship now anchored at the Somali pirate lair of Harardhere, without elaborating. Seized at the weekend in the Indian Ocean some 800 kilometres off the coast of Kenya, the Sirius Star tanker was loaded to capacity with two million barrels of oil and the biggest vessel to be seized by pirates so far. After the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) described the situation as "out of control," Arab Red Sea states meeting in Cairo Thursday pledged cooperation to end the threat " but offered few specifics. Russia announced it would send more warships to combat piracy in the treacherous waters. Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, the top commander of the Russian navy, said: "After the Neustrashimy, ships from other fleets of the Russian navy will head to the region," referring to a frigate sent to the area in September. Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, meanwhile called for an international ground military operation in the region to crush piracy, to boost sea patrols that are yielding thin results. "It's up to the European Union, NATO and others to launch a coastal land operation to eliminate the pirates," Rogozin told AFP, insisting that "naval action alone will not be enough to liquidate the threat of piracy". British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged the world to firmly fight the "scourge of hostage taking." Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein warned that piracy would rage unless the world helps restore a functional government in Somalia, which collapsed after the 1991 ouster of Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Meanwhile, Arab Red Sea states meeting in Cairo on Thursday blamed the piracy off Somalia's coast on turmoil in that country and pledged cooperation to end the threat. The meeting, co-hosted by Yemen and Egypt, was attended by delegates from Somalia's transitional government, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti and Jordan. It came days after pirates hijacked a fully loaded Saudi oil tanker with a 100-million-dollar cargo and a crew of 25. With three more ships captured since the Sirius Star was taken on Saturday, foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said before the meeting ended that Egypt would consider all possibilities in dealing with the crisis. "The Egyptian national security establishment works intensively on all options, examines what measures could be taken in this regard and decides whether a diplomatic and political solution will be preferred." In a statement issued after the meeting, the delegates pledged to respect Somalia's sovereignty when battling piracy, but was short on specifics of how the countries intended to end it. The delegates "expressed the anxiety of Arab states overlooking the Red Sea toward the growth of the phenomenon of piracy," the statement said. "Piracy off the Somali coast is one of the consequences of the deterioration of the political, security and humanitarian situation in Somalia," it said. The states will appoint military commissions to make recommendations on how to counter it, and "observe, pursue and confront any attempt by the pirates to enter the Red Sea, whether during acts of piracy or when fleeing confrontations." Arab Red Sea states will support international counter-piracy operations, "so long as they conform to international law ... and respect the sovereignty of countries on their lands and in their waters," the statement added. Naval forces from the United States, Russia, Europe and elsewhere are patrolling the dangerous Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb piracy attacks. But the United States, which also has warships off Somalia, said a military approach was not the answer. Egypt is particularly concerned about the piracy because of its reliance on revenue from traffic using the Suez Canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Suez is Egypt's third-largest source of revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers, and currently about 7.5 percent of global trade passes through the canal. "The phenomenon is threatening navigation in the Red Sea, causing some vessels to take other routes," Zaki said.